Bitter gourd pachadi recipe Pavakkai dish

Pavakkai inippu pachadi

This is my mother-in-law's dish. Many of us do not like bitter gourd obviously because of its bitter taste though we are aware of the health benefits offered by it.

So, this not a very sweet gravy, my mother-in-law used to prepare. I understand that she was doing it for 4 or 5 decades.  

The ingredients are bitter gourd - medium size - 4 nos
Onion - medium size - 1 no
Tomato - medium size - 1 no
White sesame - two tablespoons.
All these helps to reduce the kasappu or bitter taste of bitter gourd.  

Bitter gourd recipes | Pavakkai recipes South Indian 

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 First dry roast the white sesame seeds in a shallow vessel  till  they turn golden brown in colour.
Then dry grind to get a fine powder after cooling the seeds ( in a mixer )

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Add a little oil in a shallow vessel called vanali in Tamil and add mustard seeds.
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Then add the finely chopped onions to the oil
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Next it is the turn of the chopped tomatoes to be added
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Finally, the bitter gourd pieces are added, and all are mixed well in oil with a wooden or steel ladle.
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Add half a teaspoon of turmeric powder.  It is an important spice that is invariably added in Indian recipes from time immemorial
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A lemon sized tamarind is soaked in water before we begin to cook .  The extract is squeezed with the hand and added to the vegetable mixture getting cooked.
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Add half or one teaspoon of red chili powder according to your taste
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Close the vessel and allow it to get cooked.  White tomato and onion get cooked easily; bitter gourd usually takes a longer time.
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When it is cooked completely, the waiting time is around five minutes.  Add jaggery.  The jaggery quantity depends upon how sweet you want the pachadi to be.

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Finally add the dry ground white sesame powder and stir well.  Add salt according to your requirement at any intermediate step.
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Transfer the contents to a serving bowl after stirring well so that all the ingredients get mixed thoroughly
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It is a good side dish for rice, dosa and chapati.
One of the favourite dishes of my in-laws.  The quantity of the ingredients which reduce the bitterness of the pavakai , namely white sesame, tomatoes, jaggery can be varied.  We can a sweet-sour flavour if we get the right combination.